Author's Note: Okie, here is the second chapter... this is where the story gets cross-overish and it switches perspectives, as a result, the chapter actually begins with events from before the first chapter, but it hopefully won't be too confusing. Still kind of finding my feet with this fic, however, most likely it will continue with the perspective switch... so without further adieu...

Chapter Two: The Door Opens

The gate of tomorrow is not the light of heaven, but the darkness in the depths of the earth...

–Vincent Valentine's final words

High on the hill that overlooked Besaid village, there laid the ruins of an old altar to Yevon. The stones were worn and faded with deep grooves in the rock where people had knelt in prayer, asking Yevon to bring them a safe journey... This altar, however, had been abandoned five years ago when Yevon was exposed for the false God that he was: a destructor, and the one who had plagued Spira with Sin. Though people passed it as they went to and from the port, it had become just another ruin to remind Spira of it's harsh past. No one realized that these altars had originally served another purpose, one that dated back to even before the glory days of Zanarkand. It wouldn't be long now before the people of Besaid were reminded again.

As the sun sank beneath the horizon, the air around the altar began to shimmer frantically, as if it were trying to preserve what was left of the light. After a moment, the strange glowing particles crystallized into the shape of the door that rested in the air just a foot over the base of the altar. As suddenly as they appeared, the lights snuffed out leaving an inky void, deeper then the darkest of shadows on a moonless night. The void remained stagnant for a moment then slowly it began to ripple as a man stepped through, tossing his head slightly to move the pale hair from his face as he studied his surroundings. Hearing the faint strains of music as they echoed gently on the hill top, the slilver-haired man, Riku, walked forward to get a better look at the village below. Torches had been placed around the village and despite the fact the sun had set, it was in the full swing of activity, most of which was focused around the stone temple that rested on the far edge of town, overlooking the sea. The music came from the pavilion in front of the temple where a vast number of people milled around. He couldn't tell exactly what they were doing, but there was clearly some sort of celebration going on; a wedding, or so he was told.

The wedding of High Summoner Yuna and Tidus of Zanarkand. The names held no meaning for him. It was just another world, another test. This might be the one, it might not. Riku no longer cared anymore. He had isolated himself from emotion. He had loved, hated, raged, despaired, and burned with the bitter desire for revenge. In the end... it was all the same...

"Is this the one?"

Riku inclined his head at the sound of the voice that had interrupted his thoughts, but he didn't turn around. Deliberately, he ignored the question. The answer was obvious enough and right world or not, it was doomed.

"You're late."

As Riku spoke, two men came to stand beside him. Ash, the blond who had spoken, glanced at him, a smirk crossing his face as his fingers played against the hilt of his sword; a keyblade, not anywhere near as powerful as the one that Riku had himself, but deadly nevertheless. Ash had that gleam in his eyes that he always did before a mission and Riku recognized it for what it was; the desire to kill. Riku's own eyes were devoid of emotion, as they always were. Cold as ice, they glowed with an eerie blue light, a permanent effect of that day so many years ago, when Riku had been consumed by the light only to find himself cast back into darkness. However, that was his own fault, and Riku no longer regretted the choices that he had made.

Jitt, his other companion, stepped away from the pair and onto the path that wound its way down to the village. Pausing for a moment, he turned to look at Riku, an odd expression appearing in his black eyes.

"They're restless tonight..."

Riku nodded his head in the slightest of movements. He understood the redhead's concern. Riku had been forced to kill five of the wraiths just to get through the gate when they had always avoided him in the past. It was no surprise that Ash and Jitt had arrived late. They did not have the same level of control over the dark creatures that Riku had. The shadowy creatures must have been crawling all over them. Perhaps it was just as Jitt said and their behavior could be attributed to restlessness, but Riku could sense there was something different about this world. Maybe they had finally found what they were searching for.

"If we're quick, it won't be a problem... Let's go." Riku stopped for a moment letting the others go ahead as he turned to look at the portal. The shadows were seeping through it now and dark energy crackled from the void. The storm would hit and before the night was through, another star would be erased from the heavens. Sad really, but the events had already been set in motion.

Nothing to stop it now...

Riku turned and swiftly made his way down the hill, the music from the party getting louder with every step. He was about half way down the path when he began to pick up the sound of a man singing along to the music. The voice was off key, the words were slurred beyond recognition, and as Riku drew closer, he quickly realized that he would not have understood it anyway. It seemed like pure gibberish, but the feeling behind it was clear, despite the fact that it was sung in a manner that was not unlike the yowling of a dying cat.

Eventually he saw the source of the horrible noise; a sobbing drunk man with a sandy mohawk on his largely shaved head. Sitting on a bench that rested at a place where the path forked, he held an empty mug in his hands, cradling it close to his body. The man looked up as Riku and his companions came into sight, and an expression of anger flickered across his flushed face. He jumped to his feet, stumbled, then stood up as straight as he could, shouting at them with the same slurred gibberish that he had sung the song. He waved his arms frantically, the mug still clasped in his right hand, clearly wanting them to leave. When none of the other men moved, he hurled mug at them with terrible aim, and the mug sailed harmlessly off to the side. The situation might have been comical, if it weren't so damn annoying. They were pressed for time as it was. Riku was about to handle the situation when Ash stepped forward, clearly having reached his limit. Removing the blade from its sheath, he struck swiftly, wasting no time in going for the kill. Skillfully, Ash ran the edge of the keyblade deeply across the man's throat and his cries turned into a deep gurgle as the blood flowed freely from his neck. The man was dead before he hit the ground. Riku stepped forward, having drawn his own keyblade the moment Ash had moved towards the singing man. Forcefully, he used his blade to push Ash's to the ground, and held it there as he stared coldly at him.

"That was unnecessary."

Ash began to laugh a little, pleased that he had gotten to kill, even if the man hadn't put up a fight.

"Aw come on Riku, he was obnoxious. He deserved to die just for the singing alone."

Riku's expression hardened and eventually the smile slid off of Ash's faceHe tried again.

"Look, he's going to die anyway. What's it matter?"

Good question... What did it matter?

Riku sighed in annoyance, releasing Ash's weapon as he took a step back.

"We only kill when we have to or we risk everything. They find the body, and they'll look to anyone that's suspicious. We won't be able to get access to this summoner woman. We need to get to her before they do."

Riku smirked and returned this keyblade to its sheath.

"Besides, continue to indulge in these killing whims of yours, and you will be their next prey."

Ash blanched, it was a point well taken. Still, Riku knew the idea wouldn't stop him for long. Ash just couldn't help himself. Without glancing down, Riku stepped over the dead man and continued down the hill.

"Move him out of the way then catch up." Riku tossed the orders back over his shoulder, but kept walking. He knew Ash would do as he said. The man was a psychopath, but he knew when to stop pushing... most of the time.

When Ash had joined them again, they were at the edge of the crowded pavilion. There were far too many people to account just for the villagers. This was good. It meant they'd more readily blend in with the crowd. Riku nodded at Jitt.

"We'll split up. You know what to do." Then turning, Riku looked at Ash. "Wait out here and keep an eye on the storm and make sure that if some one leaves, it's not the high summoner."

This was of course unlikely, but there was no sense in taking risks. With that said, Riku slipped into the crowds, pushing his way through the pavilion and into the temple. The platform just inside the entrance gave Riku the perfect place to scope out the people in the room and though at first there was no free space for him to watch unbothered, he had only to give a group of partiers a chill look before they cleared out, unconsciously sensing the danger. Leaning against the wall, he searched the room, immediately zeroing in on the happy couple. He watched for a while, trying to determine if the woman, Yuna, was any different from the rest. Frankly, he didn't sense anything from her. Sure she'd done some selfless acts, but Riku was positive that if she were the one he'd know it.

Well if she isn't the one they want, then it's their own damn fault.

Just by seeing her, Riku knew that it was unlikely that the search would end with this world. Still, there was something here. He felt the niggling sensation in the back of his mind, an alarm going off in his head. Tearing his gaze away from the summoner and her husband, he looked around the room, trying to pinpoint the source. It was no good, there were too many people—No...There.

Glancing up, Riku noticed a girl sitting at the foot of one of the large statues that lay around the hall. A cascade of blonde hair flowed down over her shoulders and a grim expression marked her delicate features. Riku found himself wondering just what it was that she was thinking about so severely. Despite the expression, the petite girl reminded Riku of pixie, all she needed was the wings...

Somewhat annoyed by the way his thoughts had turned, and still uncertain about what it was that he sensed, Riku directed his gaze back to Yuna and Tidus. Still watching the girl out the corner of his eye, Riku saw that she was spying on him as well. Turning his head, he met the girl's green gaze full on, slightly amused at the embarrassed blush that reached her face when she realized that she had been caught staring. He didn't think he was mistaken in his judgment; there was something distinctly uncanny about her. As someone began to speak, Riku turned to listen, deciding that once he placed the mark on the high summoner, he'd go found out what it was that he was sensing.

With that in mind, Riku moved away from the door, slipping through the crowd so he could get close enough to do what he had to. The speech eventually turned into a song, and Riku recognized that he was using the same language used by the one that Ash had killed earlier. Apparently it wasn't gibberish after all. Riku filed it away in his mind as yet another piece of useless information and reaching into his pocket, he pulled out as small crystal vial filled with a viscous red liquid. With extreme care, Riku extracted the stopper, brushing all the excess liquid onto the side of the opening, leaving a single drop on the stopper. As the singing grew worse, the summoner left husband's side to gently lead the drunken lout towards the wall. When she passed him by, Riku turned towards her, and reaching out, he gently pressed the end of the stopper into the back of her veil. To anyone watching it looked like he was just another one of those creepy people who wanted the claim that they had "touched" the high summoner. No one would think much about it. He removed his hand and the stopper quickly and it was doubtful that the woman had felt anything at all, but the mark was there. Unseen but to the watchful eye, a speck of deep crimson now marred the back of the summoner's wedding veil. Perfect.

Replacing the stopper, he put the vial back into his pocket and looked around. Now he just had to find Jitt and then he'd go after the girl. After a cursory check, Riku saw that the other man was not in the temple and once again Riku wove his way through the crowds to the exit only to find that both Jitt and Ash were together, standing together off to the side.

So much for divide and conquer...

"It's done. You can handle it from here, Jitt. I am going to check on the portal. Ash you go too." Jitt nodded and headed back inside, but before Ash could follow Riku put his arm out to stop him. Ash gave him a questioning look.

"Before it happens... kill the groom."

Those were orders from above rather then Riku's own and ultimately he supposed it was best. It would be a clean death at least, rather then the slow agony of being consumed by the darkness. When viewed in that way, Riku supposed he really shouldn't have cared that Ash had killed so carelessly. Smiling, Ash turned to follow Jitt and Riku turned towards the end of the pavilion, wanting to see how much time they had before it began. The storm clouds had already begun to roll down the hillside. Riku gave it twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes until the end...

That wasn't much time to find out about that girl. So deciding to waste no more of it, he turned only to see the object of his thoughts rushing past him into the night, away from all the festivities. Without a second thought, Riku began to follow her, keeping his presence unknown as he watched, curious to see what she was going to do. He was surprised when she didn't stop in the town, but instead began to walk the path that led up to the portal, seemingly oblivious to odd lights coming from the dark clouds at the top of the hill. As she walked, she began to hum, still happily ignorant of the fact that she was being followed. Nearing the crossroads, Riku glanced around warily. He wished that he'd asked Ash just where exactly he had put the body... The girl turned away from the hilltop and down the other path and after allowing an appropriate distance, Riku did as well. Stopping abruptly, he saw it, the dead man with the mowhawk, lying on the left side of the path. Riku shook his head. This was not exactly what he had in mind when he had told Ash to move it.

Lazy bastard...

Unbelievable as it was, so wrapped up in her thoughts and her humming, the girl didn't even notice until she was literally on top of him. As her foot hit the solid mass of the body, the girl tripped falling down in the dirt next to him. Riku sighed. She just had to walk on that side of the road. After a moment of cursing in that strange babbling tongue, there was another moment of silence, and then girl released a shriek. Wasting no more time, Riku rushed forward. Like it or not, now was the time to make his presence known.